ACTION ALERT!!

ACTION ALERT!!

Today the South Carolina Finance Committee begins their budget debate. Whether our state should expand Medicaid to cover individuals with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level will be debated.

It is critically important for our state to accept $11.2 billion through 2020 of federal money to cover all the cost for the first 3 years and 90% of it after that. The South Carolina Small Business Chamber and the following chambers have endorsed expanding Medicaid:Anderson, Charleston, Dillon, Darlington, Florence, North Myrtle Beach and Orangeburg.

Here is why:

–An economic study projects that the federal dollars will create 44,000 jobs and the result will be that the state will actually net $9 million more to its budget by 2020.

–Employees covered by Medicaid will be healthier, miss less work and thus be more productive.

–Small business employers will be better able to afford group health insurance if some of their employees are covered by expanded Medicaid.

–Expanding Medicaid will largely eliminate the “hidden tax” in every health insurance premium to pay for the uncompensated care of the uninsured.Based on projections of the actuarial firm used by the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, this “hidden tax” is about $1000 per year for family coverage.

–Small businesses with 50 or more full-time employees that decide to offer health insurance rather than pay a penalty fee will not have cover their Medicaid eligible workers.

Contact Senate Finance Committee members now with this message:

Please expand Medicaid to help control the cost of health insurance and health care for small businesses.

Below are the names of these Senators.Click on the name to find their contact information.

UnConflicted is the small business advocacy blog of Frank Knapp, Jr., President & CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce. Visit our website to join, subscribe to our newsletter, or follow the issues affecting small businesses in SC: http://www.scsbc.org